Lesson 1
THE CHALLENGE OF TRUST
Teacher Preparation
Key Concepts
There are many “authorities” in our lives telling us what to do, both in real life and on the Internet. Some are good and reliable authorities, while others are harmful.
Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
- List some authorities or “Simons” in their lives, both in real life and on the Internet.
- Discuss the difference between good “Simons” and harmful “Simons.”
- Identify at least three good “Simons” and three harmful “Simons” in their lives.
Background Information
This introductory session will get the conversation started about acceptable and unacceptable uses of the Internet. After hearing the beginning story, the students will play the games “Simon Says” and “Simon Knows.” These games introduce the seen and unseen influencers in our lives. They begin a conversation that helps students navigate the online world where just because something is possible does not mean it is always beneficial.
–––––
Beginning the Lesson
Story
About 5 minutes
The World of Electronics was random, eclectic and dusty. There seemed to be little organization behind the crowded stacks of Internet gadgets and games. A faded sign, tacked on an old cork message board, read—
“Keep looking, you never know what you might find.”
Despite the obvious disorder, the place was crowded with store employees interacting with customers.
“I forgot just how popular this place is!” said Natalie, as she pushed open the door.
“Tell me again why we are here,” said Derrick, looking at the text on his phone all three had received.
“Yeah, pretty strange!” laughed Sam. “All of us getting the same notification for something none of us ordered.”
“I could not find so much as a hint of the Volqert App online,” added Derrick. “If you had not suggested we check it out, I probably would have deleted it.”
“I wonder how long it will take to get someone to help us?” mused Natalie.
The words were hardly out of her mouth when one of the store techs walked up. “My name is Jang. How may I help you?”
“We are here to redeem this,” said Derrick, holding out his phone. The coupon, complete with QR code, read—
The Volqert App can now be activated. In-person verification required. Please present yourself by 4 p.m. today—a matter of some urgency.
Jang scanned the QR code and paused. “I think our store manager will want to handle this. I will find you when he is available.”
“Let us have a look around,” said Derrick and Sam in unison.
Twenty minutes later Jang found them in the gaming part of the store trying out the latest version of their favorite interactive game, Soul Crusher’s Final Revenge.
“Our store manager can see you now.” Jang gave them a slight bow and seemed to disappear into the crowd.
“Strange,” remarked Sam. “Why all the mystery?”
“No idea,” said Natalie as they headed for the office.
“Please come in,” smiled the manager as he gestured to three chairs facing his desk.
“The Volqert App was purchased for you a few years ago, but for some reason your addresses were generated just this morning.”
“So, are you trying to sell us something or get us to subscribe to a new channel?” asked Derrick.
“Hardly!” replied the manager. “The Volqert App is much more–how shall I put it? — complicated.” He gestured to a small white box in the middle of his desk.
“Please take a seat. I have taken the liberty of supplying one of our store computers for your use,” the manager said, as he turned and walked out of his office.
Derrick broke the security tape on the box and pulled out a cobalt blue thumb drive, which he inserted into the computer.
Volqert: Good morning! I have been looking forward to meeting you. My name is Volqert.
The male voice coming out of the computer sounded neither young nor old. The words flowed with an easy rhythm, but unlike most programmed voices, Volqert’s inflection went far beyond mere verbal information—it felt like there was an immediate personal connection.
“Ah, hello,” replied Natalie.
Volqert: Good morning, Natalie.
“Wow! You know us?” said Natalie.
Volqert: Of course!
“So, what exactly are you?” ventured Derrick.
Volqert: Think of me as your Personal Internet Insurance Policy.
“I have never heard of a Personal Internet Insurance Policy,” said Natalie. “Have you been on the market very long?”
Volqert: I am as old as the Internet and as young as the latest download.
“Do you play games?” interrupted Sam.
Volqert: Oh, yes! I love to play games! In fact, I thought we might begin with my favorite game, “Simon Says/Simon Knows.”
“What is it about?” asked Natalie.
Volqert: Knowing when to jump in and when to stay out.
“Jump in or out of what?” asked Derrick.
Volqert: Everything!
“Ah, before we start ‘jumping’ into anything,” interrupted Natalie, “I would like to know who bought you for us and why it took three years before we were notified?”
Volqert: The first part of your question is easy to answer! It was your cousins, Tony and Darlene. I believe you three went on a Wilderness Adventure with them. As for the second part of your question—something had to happen before you could begin.
“I have a feeling you are not going to tell me,” Natalie said with a smile.
Volqert: How refreshing to see wisdom in one so young.
– – – – –
= 5 minutes
“Simon Says”-“Simon Knows” Game
About 25 minutes
Part One: “Simon Says”
[Part One should take no more than 15 minutes, although, if you are having fun, you can play longer. Introduce the game by saying:]
Rather than read an account of how Volqert played “Simon Says” and “Simon Knows” with his friends, we can play “Simon Says” and “Simon Knows.”
Have any of you ever played “Simon Says”? You may have played it as a child, but it is fun at any age.
Everyone line up and face me. I will ask you to do certain things in a timely manner. If I say “Simon Says” before giving an instruction, you are to immediately perform the activity. If I ask you to do something without first saying “Simon Says,” do not do it. If you do not follow directions or do something not preceded by “Simon Says,” you are usually eliminated from the game. Volqert, however, changed this rule. Instead of being eliminated, you must give yourself a mark when you make a mistake (or hang your head and say, “Oh, no!”). The one with the least marks (or “Oh, no!”) at the end of the game is the winner. Do you understand the rules?
[Give students a minute to ask questions for clarification of the rules.]
Let us try a practice round.
Simon says, “Touch your ear.” [Touch your own ear and then do each motion or activity at the beginning of the game. As the students get into the game, you, as the leader, stop doing the motions. Later in the game, do a different action from the one you are saying—see note to teacher below before playing.]
Simon says, “Touch your other ear.”
Simon says, “Take one step forward.”
Now, take one step back.
All of you who took one step back must give yourself a mark (or say “Oh, no!”).
Good! Now, everyone line up and face me. This time we play the game for real!
Ready? Here we go.
Simon says, “Get in clapping position Hands in front, slightly bend over.”
Simon says, “Clap once.”
“Clap twice.” (I didn’t say, “Simon says.”)
Simon says, “Clap twice.”
“Nice job! Give yourselves a hand.” (I didn’t say, “Simon says.”)
Simon says, “Turn around.”
Simon says, “Take one step to the RIGHT.” Simon says, “Take one step to the
LEFT.” Simon says, “Take one step to the RIGHT.” Simon says, “Take one step to
the RIGHT.” Any who took a step in the wrong direction must now sit down.
Simon says, “Stand on one foot.”
“Now stand on the other.” [Etc.—make up your own Simon Says instructions.]
[Note to teacher before playing—
This game operates on several levels, showing:
1. How well we listen.
2. How well we anticipate.
3. How easily we are distracted from following the rules.
Some students will lag behind when given an order; you have to get everyone to respond quickly to your instructions (within half a second of giving a command). Anyone who is too slow to respond must give himself a mark. Remember, this is a game so make it fun. (Tie scores—when students’ scores are the same—are OK since students may not remember how many marks they have, which does not matter at this stage.)
As the leader, your goal is to trick the students into violating the rules. For example, you might single out one successful student and put him or her through a demonstration.
Calling students by name can cause them to ignore the necessary “Simon says.” For example, “Simon says, Alan, jump up and down.” “Alan, Simon says, “lift up your right arm.” “Alan, now lift up your left arm.” (If Alan lifts his left arm, he would be forced to give himself a mark). It is a good idea to practice being “Simon” before playing the game with your students. Watch how a master plays the game on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RewIoHJ9RdM.
Do not let any round go longer than a few minutes before asking who has the least number of marks; then start again with the whole group. Try to play at least three rounds of “Simon Says” before moving on to the second half of the exercise called “Simon Knows.”]
[After playing a few rounds of the game, say:] OK, let us debrief before going on to “Simon Knows.” Everyone, please sit down. What were some of your feelings as you played?
[Give a couple of minutes to let students respond. Some students may say they feel tricked, manipulated, excited, silly, frustrated, uncomfortable, alert, competitive, focused on doing exactly what Simon said, etc.]
When we play “Simon Says” we step into a world with clear rules, a simple world. But it is not easy to follow those rules, is it? Why is it hard? Simon makes it hard. Simon is tricky, saying one thing while doing another, or getting us into one rhythm and then changing it without signaling the change.
What are some ways this game could stop being fun, become dangerous, or just wrong?
[Give students a minute to respond. Some responses could be: being told to do something dangerous like laying in the street blindfolded or drinking poison or hitting each other with a stick or doing something against your conscience like cursing your friend or stealing something.]
Let us consider how these questions also relate to using the Internet. “Simon Says” has clear rules, but we said they can be hard to follow. Does the
Internet have clear rules or guidelines? [Call on one or two students to respond.]
Right. There are no clear rules.
What are some areas where there are clear guidelines to follow for using the
Internet? [Call on one or two students to respond.]
Different kinds of social media have various guidelines and standards regarding the content they allow on their site. Some of the content can be controlled by the site and some the user and/or their parents can control. For example, some sites do not allow sexually explicit content. Other sites allow the user or the parent to set controls for offensive language, violence, and explicit sexuality.
What are some areas where there are unclear or no guidelines? [Call on one or two students to respond.]
Yes, most sites do not rule what you look at, how long you stay on a site, or what you post. Some media sites have very few guidelines.
How can the Internet become dangerous or just wrong? [Call on one or two students to respond. Add these items if needed: too much time spent playing games, posting things that hurt a person, interacting with bad people viewing pornography.]
– – – – –
Part Two: Simon Knows
Now that we understand some of the dynamics of what happens to us when we play “Simon Says,” we are ready to move on to “Simon Knows.”
“Simon Knows” is really the game behind the game. What I mean is this—in life, we play “Simon Knows” even when we do not realize we are playing it. In life, the “Simons” are the people and things influencing us. We often assume what these “Simons” tell us is good for us. However, this is not always true. Sometimes the “Simons” in our lives encourage us to do things that are harmful or even dangerous to us.
1. Who are some of the “Simons” in your life? In other words, who or what tries to
tell you what to do? [Give students a minute to respond. If needed, add these:
Peers, parents, teachers, media, and even me—my good self or my bad self.]
2. What are some things you do just because “Simon” says to? [Give students a
minute to respond. If needed, add: The way we dress, cut our hair, what we watch,
what we do not watch, when we get up and when we go to bed, what we talk about.]
It is amazing how much of our lives are influenced by the “Simons” in our lives; and most of time, we do not even realize or think about them being there.
So, now, let us evaluate some of the “Simons” in each of our lives.
– – – – –
= 30 minutes
“Simon Knows” Exercise
About 15 minutes
[On the board, write the title and the heading for three columns.]
“SIMONS” TO LISTEN TO
GOOD “SIMONS”
COULD BE GOOD, or
COULD BE BAD “SIMONS”
BAD “SIMONS”
[Teachers]
[Movies]
[Unknown person on social media]
[Divide the class into groups of four or five students per group. Give them three minutes to list as many GOOD “SIMONS,” COULD BE GOOD/COULD BE BAD, and BAD “SIMONS” as they can think of. Have a student from one of the groups come to the board and write a name under one of the columns. As a class, discuss the answer the student wrote on the board. Have a second student do the same, and so forth.
After the exercise is over, ask:]
In life, how do you evaluate which “Simons” to listen to? [Give students a minute to respond. Then add these: people with good character and who make good decisions, people who are good role models—these could include clergy, parents, teachers.]
How does this apply to using the Internet? How do you decide what “Simons” to listen to regarding Internet usage? [Ask for one or two responses. Then say:]
A good warning light would be to ask yourself: Is this something that I would like my parent or teacher to watch with me? Would I feel guilty or embarrassed if my parent or teacher knew I was watching it?
– – – – –
= 45 minutes
Ending the Lesson
In the next few lessons, we are going to explore some of the “Simons” that influence our Internet usage and talk more about positive and harmful aspects of using the Internet.
– – – – –
= 46 minutes
RESOURCES
GOING DEEPER
There is a statement made in an ancient book of wisdom that says, “You need two or three trustworthy sources to make a valid case.”
Having two or three trusted sources to confirm the truth of a claim can give us confidence when we are sorting out whether to believe something we hear or read. Let us look at how that wisdom would apply.
When you open social media and start reading what people have posted, how do you know if what you are reading or even what you see on YouTube is true or a clever lie? Maybe your answer is that your friends do not lie to you. But what about their friends—the ones from whom your friends got their information? And are you reading facts or opinions?
Truth Evaluation Exercise
The world of professional sports is a good example of the difficulties of knowing what is true and what is false. You have a stadium or an arena full of people. A few of them are athletes and the vast majority are fans. The word “fan” is short for “fanatic.” The best fans are the most loyal—fanatically loyal—to their team. If their team wins, they will boast about the victory, and if it loses, they will complain about how something went wrong, the referees were bad, or someone
made a poor decision—all of these are opinions.
Social media functions mostly as a gigantic gossip forum where the truth about what someone posts is assumed by all the fans of the idea expressed in the post. And if everybody agrees with the idea, and if the idea is popular, and especially if the idea “goes viral,” people tend to think it must be true. More and more, advertisers are counting on social media to have this influence on consumers.
How do you know something in the media or what you hear from a friend is true?
First, assume it is an opinion and not necessarily true. Then, question it. Here are some questions to help evaluate the truth of what is being presented:
• Can the opinion be proven or disproven?
• What fact or facts is it based on that you know are true?
• Who authored the opinion and is he or she trustworthy?
• What do other people you trust say about what you are seeing or hearing?
• Who is likely to benefit if people agree with the opinion?
[Have the evaluation questions listed above written on the board. Divide the class into groups of 3-5 students each. Assign each group one of the three case studies. Assignment: Using the questions on the board, have each group evaluate the truth of their assigned case study. After a few minutes, have each group report to the class:]
- Their conclusion;
- How they arrived at their conclusion; and
- Is there additional information they need to gather? If so, how will they gather that
information?
[Here are three case studies. Assign one case study to each group.]
- A person you know posts on social media that a student in your school, whom you do not know, stole a car and has been arrested.
- You hear that a couple in your school just broke up and there are a lot of things posted online that are negative about both of them.
- There is a clique of girls who posted something very negative about a girl who used to be in that group but decided to leave.
Today, we have explored ways we can try to determine the truth of what we read on social media. We have seen the wisdom of the ancient saying, “You need two or three trustworthy sources to make a valid case.”
It can be a challenge to verify the truth, but now we have some tools to help us sort out the truth from the gossip.
– – – – –
Parent-Teacher Connection
For Family Discussion
Ask your son or daughter to tell you about the “Simon Says—Simon Knows” game.
(“Simon” represents the “voices” influencing a person’s actions.)
Ask your child to share with you what he or she thinks are the positive as well as the negative “Simons” influencing his or her life and Internet use.
– – – – –
